Joe’s idea for ridding Hiawatha Lake of milfoil

Joe Porter is a close neighbor to Hiawatha Lake in Onondaga Park who has what he calls a “pipe dream.” He imagines a lake free of Eurasian water milfoil plant.

Joe has given his dream legs. He’s walked around the Strathmore neighborhood surrounding Onondaga Park, collecting signatures of his neighbors — including the folks at the Case home — on a petition calling on the city to try something different in the 11-acre body of water Joe says looks bad and stinks.

He wants the city to completely drain the lake, yank out the roots of the milfoil, then put the water back in and restock Hiawatha with fish in time for the fishing derby in August. And while you’re at it, Joe pleads with the city, paint the roof on the park’s bathhouse.

Joe told me this week he plans to deliver the petitions — he has more than 500 signatures — to City Hall this week or next. He’d like the work to begin this spring.

Joe has lived at the eastern edge of the park since 1981 and grew up in the neighborhood. He contends previous attempts to rid Hiawatha of milfoil — a submersed aquatic plant native to Europe, Asia and North Africa — have not worked. “The plant just grows back and spreads; it’s a waste of our money,” he said.

In the past, the city has hired a mechanical harvester, to cut shoots and leaves. A few years ago, the Parks Department, which supervises Onondaga Park, brought in 500 planting-eating carp. The harvester costs the city $5,000 each time and makes the problem worse because the machine creates shoot fragments, which contribute to the plant’s dispersal, according to Joe.

Patrick Driscoll, the Syracuse parks commissioner, said he’d not heard about Joe’s petitions but is open to suggestions. “It’s well worth the discussion,” he said this week. Patrick said he’s concerned about the cost and the possibility of a fish kill in the lake, if all the water is taken out. Hiawatha’s not been drained completely since he’s been on the job, although it was, partially, in 2001.

The lake is filled from Onondaga Creek.

Hiawatha was sculpted as a swimming and boating lake when Onondaga Park was created, at the end of the 1800s. It had been a city water reservoir, one of four in Strathmore, called Wilkinson. It was created to hold 50 million gallons of water in 1868. Whether a body of water existed prior to 1868 has been lost in history. A new water supply for Syracuse from Skaneateles Lake opened in 1894.

Joe Porter, who teaches English at two area community colleges, said he became aware of the milfoil in 2000, as a member of the board of Onondaga Park Association. “It was brought here,” he said. In 2006, he did a Hiawatha walk-around with the parks and water commissioners, who listened but didn’t change their cleaning method.

He believes the city needs to drain the lake completely in April, allow it to dry for three months, then scrape the bed of nutrient-rich sediment and plant roots. While the water is gone, he hopes conservationists and concerned citizens will net and save as many fish and turtles as possible, then return them to the lake. The state traditionally stocks Hiawatha with fish in the summer.

Plan B, according to Joe, would be for the city to let the water out and volunteers would do the cleanup, if Syracuse lacks the money to hire people for the job. Joe says Mayor Stephanie Miner heard him discuss the issue at a neighborhood meeting last week.

“She said she wasn’t aware of the milfoil, and would study it and work with us to tackle the problem,” he said.

Dick Case writes Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. Reach him at 470-2254, or by e-mail, dcase@syracuse.com.